Steps to Certification

For our Full-membership therapy animal team program, complete the following steps

For helping hands Internships for students and those who want to help without a pet of their own, please complete this application

To join Take A Paws CA, LLC, please read our comprehensive manual that outlines all the necessary information about our organization, including the rules, regulations, and associated costs. The manual provides a detailed guide on how to join.


Then, download and complete our "full membership team forms" to complete the necessary documents to join.


 Once you have reviewed the manual and completed the forms, you can proceed to the next step to submit your application. We appreciate your interest and look forward to welcoming you to our community of animal-assisted interventions. 

We have simplified our application to be a google form that you can easily complete without the hassle of downloading, printing, and scanning. Just complete the google form and attach the requested forms from step 2.


Once you have completed your application, you may proceed to step 3.

Schedule an appointment with us to have your pet's behavioral analysis and AKC Canine Good Citizen test and officially become a therapy animal team! 

Even if you don't think your pup is ready, this is also a great way for us to understand your pets behavior before recommending a training program or things to work on at home.

The fee is just $50

Upon passing the test, you will receive:

 -a certificate officially making you a therapy animal team

-AKC CGC Ribbon and Score

-A Nametag for you

-a badge for your pet

-and a TAP Bandana

If you do not pass, you will be able to take another test at a later date free of cost.

Our next behavioral analysis dates are:

July 12th from 2pm to 5pm

If you have passed your test, continue to step 4.

While we provide primary liability coverage to each facility we visit, we want to make sure our volunteer therapy teams are not held liable if some sort of accident occurs. Additionally, we want to make sure our clients are covered in case of anything happening. Thats why it is a vital part of our programming to have each member individually insured secondarily. We hope you understand why we require this from each membership team and that it makes you feel more secure in case of an emergency. 

Most of our members are able to easily add this coverage onto their homeowners insurance for a low cost, or may already have it without realizing. If not, we can direct you to some reputable insurance networks. Requiring secondary insurance is typical of other organizations such as Therapy Dogs International as well. typically, it only costs about $10/year to add animal liability onto your existing policies.

If you are bringing your dog to work on the clock, you will need additional business insurance for your therapy dog since it is no longer considered volunteer work. Email us for more information.

Once you have obtained this, you can upload a copy by uploading it here

While waiting on insurance coverage, feel free to proceed to the final step.

Once you and your pet have jumped through all the technical hoops necessary to become a therapy animal team, 

there is only one last step, and that is to join our regular events!

10 supervised visits at our events are required before you and your pet can work solo at your own locations or workplaces.

$35 membership fee is due annually starting before your first visit.


included in this membership fee is:

-Primary insurance coverage while on our official visits

Therapy Team Full Membership ID card (included after 10 successful supervised visits)

Regularly scheduled events to join at your convenience

Replacement pet badges, name tags, and ID cards

Membership Renewal Behavioral Analysis (every 3 years)


you will need to purchase your own TAP t-shirt.

Join our brand new facebook group to RSVP for events and become a part of our tight knit community!